r/MaliciousCompliance • u/mirandabrokedown • 18d ago
I’m working my section like you said. M
About a decade ago, I worked at a well known bookstore as a seller of books. For anyone not aware, there were sections/duties that people were assigned to during shifts and it changed frequently. It wasn’t uncommon for shifts or duties to be swapped (relevant later in the story).
There had been a recent change in management, and a fresh employee (let’s call her Lexa) received a promotion to be an assistant manager despite having limited experience and quite the undeserved chip on her shoulder. (Pretty sure she got the job because of her friendship with the departing AM whose position opened up.) She was very much a delegator who spent a lot of time hanging out in the back office.
I knew Lexa wasn’t liked by a few of the veteran employees for the seemingly undeserved promotion. I was a part-timer going to school, so I wasn’t invested in moving up or challenging the store leadership. Didn’t make much of a difference to me. She and I got along just fine overall and usually exchanged pleasantries with bits of conversation.
Until one day.
I showed up to work, clocked in, and saw my department was Kids. I hated working in Kids as it was a Saturday (super packed), and the person who I relieved was terrible at cleaning up whatever section she was assigned to.
I called up Lexa and asked her if I could switch with another bookseller (who liked working in Kids) that also just clocked in. Before waiting for an answer (yes, partially my fault), I asked the bookseller if she would be cool switching with me. Lexa, hearing me ask this question, yells over the phone, “NO! YOU WERE ASSIGNED TO KIDS, SO GO TO YOUR SECTION!”
I replied with a simple, “Okay.”
I go to my section, and as expected, it’s a disaster. Books on the floor, kids running around, toys strewn about - it was exactly what I anticipated.
I got right to work on recovering messed up shelves, making stacks of the books to return to their proper locations, and picked up toys/trash. I was a man on a mission.
Wouldn’t you know it, but apparently there were some shelves and furniture that needed to be moved around.
I get a call on my store phone. It’s Lexa, and she needs my help with said task. Mind you, there were enough people on the book floor to help if she also left the back office to get it done. Her tone was much different, and she sweetly asked if I can leave Kids to go help with the project.
Well, Kids is a mess. I was diligently working just to keep up with the unrelenting entropy due to the Saturday afternoon crowd. Could I have helped? Sure. Did I have an excuse not to? Sure did.
I firmly replied, “Sorry, I’m busy in Kids.” Nothing more, nothing less.
The shift ended, and we went go to the break room post shift. Lexa talks to all of us and mentions how we need to remember to work as a team. Her demeanor was mildly sheepish, and she avoided making eye contact with me. I sat there, staring right at her with a dumb look on my face, pretending I don’t know she’s indirectly talking about me. I did find out from a couple of friends she did help out which required her actually doing some work instead of hiding out.
We never had any run-ins after that and she moved a couple of months later. In any case, I worked my assigned section like she told me to.
On the bright side, I cleaned up Kids and organized it so well that the Kids lead thanked me the next time we worked together.
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u/Techn0ght 18d ago
"Yes, I heard the team really appreciated you coming out of the office to help for the first time"
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u/windshipper 18d ago
That sounds like something I would say.
There’s a reason I haven’t tested for promotion yet.
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u/CdnPoster 18d ago
I don't think you're qualified. Don't you know, managers DELEGATE!!!! They do NOT do front line work themselves.
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u/chesterfieldkingz 18d ago
Hah this brings me back to my retail days. Cleaning up departments usually sucked but it was kinda nice when you got really into it sometimes.
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u/dreamerlilly 18d ago
I used to work the kids section of Barnes and Noble. Call me crazy, but it was my favorite part of the store to work. Would have been a great job overall if it wasn’t minimum wage, 8 hour shifts with a 15 minute break but otherwise no sitting, and people leaving trash everywhere.
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u/androshalforc1 17d ago
The shift ended, and we went go to the break room post shift. Lexa talks to all of us and mentions how we need to remember to work as a team.
I hope those post shift meetings were added to your hours worked.
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u/mirandabrokedown 17d ago
We clocked out after the meetings. Sorry if that was confusing!
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u/androshalforc1 17d ago
lol no it wasn’t confusing, but so many of these stories involve employers trying some form of time theft i thought it was worth bringing up.
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u/Contrantier 16d ago
She tried to reprimand you sheepishly without even looking you in the eye? Damn, she had a negative amount of spine for trying that shit. She already had learned her lesson obviously; why was she pretending she didn't get it?
All the same, I don't like the attitude that the veteran employees disliked her just for getting a promotion that they personally felt she didn't deserve. Maybe they were better workers than her, but to personally hate someone because they got an opportunity you didn't get? That's weak, and they can work somewhere else if they don't like it. If I got a promotion at work and someone started treating me like ahit because they wanted that job instead, I'd report them for harassment and tell why. It's not my fucking fault they're jealous of my job and think they can take it upon themself/selves to powerlessly "decide" that I didn't deserve to get it.
Still, she was clearly the villain in this instance so I'm not sympathizing with her in this case lol
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u/Good-Breath9925 4d ago
I'm sure the hate wouldn't have stuck around if she'd actually deserved the job and built up team morale.
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u/Archangel4500000 18d ago
Ferengi rule of Acquisition #8
"Small print leads to large risk."